Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost is considered to be one of the greatest American poets. Perhaps the reason for his widespread appeal is that his poems have a simplistic and easy-going facade. However, upon deeper exploration, Frost's work is revealed as having multiple layers of meaning. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" paints a calm, serene picture that may seem extremely simple and straightforward at first glance. "Stopping by Woods' provides a doorway into an understanding of the poet's great popularity with 'ordinary' readers." (Kilcup) However, there is a sort of hidden meaning in this poem that is infused with intense emotion. The imagery of the setting and symbolism of the poem are two of Frost's literary techniques used in this poem to give it deeper meaning regarding life and society.
Frost presents a dark and mysterious setting for this poem. A dark, cold, snowy night in…...
mlaBibliography
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."
Karen L. Kilcup. Robert Frost and Feminine Literary Tradition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998: 45, 46-47.
Just two lines later, however, Frost satisfies the reader's need to hear by using onomatopoeia to suggest "the only other sound's the sweep of easy wind and downy flake" (Frost 11-12). By continuing to describe the woods as "lovely, dark and deep," followed by the repeated lines, "and miles to go before I sleep," Frost closes the poem with a mysteriously beautiful picture of the woods before lulling the reader to sleep through repetition (Frost 16, 19-20). Thus, Frost's literal description of a simple event qualifies this poem as a piece of good literature as readers, carried by the end rhyme, experience the silence of the woods on a winter night.
This pleasant scene has a function other than provoking beautiful imagines, however. The repeated last line, "and miles to go before I sleep" paired with preceding, "but I have promises to keep" suggests that the poem was a pause…...
mlaWorks Cited
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on Summer Day." 1923. Old Poetry.Com. 9
September 2008. Old Poetry.com. http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/show/4164-Robert-Frost-Stopping-by-Woods-on-a-Snowy-Evening
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." 1920. Bartleby.com. 9 September 2008.
Bartleby.com. http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
In his poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Robert Frost uses deceptively simple language to communicate his ideas. There is only one three-syllable word in the entire poem -- "promises." The rest of the poem is made up of one- or two-syllable words that are easily understood by virtually everyone. The sound of the poem, when read aloud, almost sounds like normal speech, although he has carefully chosen the words to fit a simple rhythm, four iambic pairs to a line. The poem is almost a conversation between Frost and his horse, whom he personifies, attributing human feelings to the animal. Mostly, however, Frost talks to himself.
The poem's title, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," suggests several things. We immediately know the setting, but we also have both the woods and the time of day -- evening -- suggesting darkness. Since…...
The use of enjambment has a similar effect, contributing to the sense of continuity and rhythm.
The speaker has made this journey before, and the stop now being made by the speaker is unusual, as is indicated in the second stanza as the speaker notes how his horse may find this "queer" because the speaker has chosen a place far from civilization. This is conveyed by ideas connected by enjambment:
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near (5-6).
The horse is here treated as another sentient being, while Nature on a quiet evening is snow and woods. The snow creates a white background that the listener can picture and that thus has a purity that is disturbed by those moving through it. This image might also be seen as another representation of life, as a clean slate that the individual makes of what he can.
The second and…...
mlaWorks Cited
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evenig." In Poetry for Students, Volume 1. Mary K. Ruby (ed.), 272-274. Detroit: Gale, 1997.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
"Stopping by the woods on a snowing evening" is regarded as the masterpiece of Robert Frost. The theme of this poem has been debated widely. On one hand, some argue that speaker of the poem is just simply gazing at the beautiful nature; on the other hand some argue that the speaker is contemplating suicide. If we examine the poem then we will find that there are deep layers in the poem and the speaker merely looking at the nature is just the superficial layer. The speaker in the poem is basically faced with a dilemma of choice and he feels suicidal but eventually plans to move on due to his unfinished responsibilities.
The speaker of the poem (presumably a man) is a traveler who is on a journey with his horse on the darkest night of the year. He stops on his way…...
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by obert Frost
Preamble
As a preamble, Frost is known for his flawless depiction of mastery in poetry and in particular those that use nature are an imagery or metaphor, or even describing nature as it is. He has displayed good skill and experience in use of nature to symbolize human emotions as was in his poem "The oad Not Taken" among other widely discusses and analyzed poems within the literature realm.
There is a significant interaction between nature and man within the poem which surpasses the physical interaction to the psychological realm that enables a deeper understanding of the persona's obsession with the nature described in the poem.
Paper outline
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by obert Frost
Thesis: There is a significant interaction between nature and man within the poem which surpasses the physical interaction to the psychological realm that enables a deeper understanding…...
mlaReferences
Poetry Foundation, (2013). Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. By Robert Frost. Retrieved September 13, 2014 from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171621
Road Not Taken, Stopping by oods on a Snowy Evening, Out-compare/Contrast
The Uncertainty of Life
Robert Frost was an American poet who often explored the impact that nature and the environment had on the individual. Frost found that nature allowed the individual to take an introspective look into how present choices may impact future outcomes while keeping in mind that some things are out of an individual's control. In the poems "The Road Not Taken," "Stopping By oods on a Snowy Evening," and "Out," Frost explores the limitations that an individual has over how their life turns out.
In "The Road Not Taken," an unnamed narrator is traveling to an unnamed destination on a road that eventually forks, presumably representative of the narrator's life path. hen the narrator comes upon "two roads diverged in a yellow wood," he faces a difficult decision as he can only choose one road to travel (line 1).…...
mlaWorks Cited
Frost, Robert. "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." Web. 7 December 2011.
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." Web. 7 December 2011.
Frost, Robert. "Out." Web. 7 December 2011.
Stopping Woods a Snowy Evening
Frost
Frost: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
This is one of Robert Frost's most famous poems. Its apparent simplicity is deceptive and there is a great deal of depth and complexity that can be gleaned from an interpretation of the poem. Ostensibly, the poem deals with a traveler on horseback who rides out on the darkest night of the year. He stops to gaze in wonder and amazement at the woods and the thick snow that is falling. However, while he is intensely attracted by the beauty of the scene that he observes, he also has responsibilities and duties that he has to take care of and he has to leave this tranquil scene and continue on his journey.
One of the central elements of the poem is the sense of stillness and peace that the poet evokes through his use of language. This can be clearly…...
obert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"
While appearing to be a simplistic poem, it is argued that "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by obert Frost is a deceptively meaningful. Using the content and style of the poem, along with consideration Frist's own views on poetry, it is hypothesised that the poem is a reflection of the ever present strain of social obligations and expectations. An outline of the paper is as follows.
Introduction to the poem the poem was written in 1922
tells the story of a narrator stopping in snowy Woods was on their way to a destination deeper meaning indicated by poem construction different commentators give different interpretations
The first verse
simple start setting the scene, aligned with Frosts' own location in New England
b. Indication of social conventions, including property ownership
The middle versus
a. Further information is provided, such as it being the darkest night of…...
mlaReferences
Ciardi, J., Williams, M., (1975), How Does a Poem Mean, Boston, Houghton Mifflin
Frost, R, (1922), "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Poetry Foundation, retrieved http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171621
Gray, R, (1990), American Poetry of the 20th Century, London, Longman
Panini, J, (1998), Robert Frost: a Life, New York, Owl Books
One study published in the American Psychiatric Association found that "PTSD has been shown to predict poor health not only in veterans of the 1991 Gulf ar but also in veterans of orld ar II and the Korean ar. Our study extends these findings in a group of active duty soldiers returning from recent combat deployment to Iraq, confirming the strong association between PTSD and the indicators of physical health independent of physical injury" (Hoge, Terhakopian, Castro, Messer & Engel, 2007). From this study one can certainly glean that PTSD has a somatic component to it, or at least there is a prevalence in which persons afflicted with PTSD also suffer from physical health problems. One can also assume that the somatic component was downplayed or overlooked in prior studies, as most treatments for PTSD do not seem to address the physical aspect of the disorder.
To elaborate on this…...
mlaWorks Cited
Cooper, M. (2008). The Facts are Friendly. Therapy Today.net. Retrieved from http://www.therapytoday.net/article/15/8/categories/
Frost, R. (1923). Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. New Hampshire. Retrieved from http://www.ketzle.com/frost/snowyeve.htm .
Gelso, C., Fretz, B. (2001). Counseling Psychology Second Edition. Orlando, FL:
Harcourt, Inc.
Apparently Plath wrote the poem during her stay in the hospital, which can be a depressing place notwithstanding all the nurses and orderlies dressed in white. The appendectomy followed a miscarriage that Plath had suffered through, so given those realities in the poet's life -- especially for a woman to lose a child she had been carrying -- one can identify with the bleak nature of the poem. Confronted with the birth that turned out to be death, and then a painful appendectomy, the tulips are used as something of an abstraction and the redness of them gives her pain because it "corresponds" to the wound in her body from the surgery.
The opening stanza's first few lines seem rather peaceful and restful: "The tulips are too excitable, it is winter here / look how white everything is / How quiet, how snowed-in / I am learning peacefulness / lying…...
mlaWorks Cited
Brower, Reuben a. (1963). The Poetry of Robert Frost: Constellations of Intention. New York:
Dobbs, Jeannine. 1977. "Viciousness in the Kitchen: Sylvia Plath's Domestic Poetry.
Modern Language Studies, 7(2).
Frost, Carol. (2012). Sincerity and inventions: On Robert Frost. Poets. Retrieved May 3,
These are far different ways of symbolizing similar coping skills, but they do have many things in common. Both poems use symbolism to mean more to the reader, and they make the reader think about their own life, too. They do this by painting vivid word pictures.
Imagery in these poems is very important in getting the details across. Frost uses the peaceful image of a snowy wood to contrast with the narrator's clearly busy life. Frost writes, "He will not see me stopping here / To watch his woods fill up with snow" (Frost). The reader can almost see the image of the woods at dusk, and the silent falling flakes of snow. Who would not want to linger there? oethke's poem also uses vivid imagery to make the poem stick in the mind of the reader. He writes, "The hand that held my wrist / Was battered on…...
mlaReferences
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Personal Web Page. 2005. 14. Oct. 2005. http://www.ketzle.com/frost/snowyeve.htm
Roethke, Theodore. "My Papa's Waltz." FavoritePoem.org. 2005. 14 Oct. 2005. http://www.favoritepoem.org/poems/roethke/waltz.html
This poem is a favorite of mine because it reminds me to slow down and appreciate everything. It does not take long nor does it take much to renew and revive and that is exactly what the poet wishes to communicate.
In Joy Harjo's "Remember," the poet uses imagery and personification to convey points of importance. Because the poet is encouraging someone to remember, she pulls images from experience that will be familiar. She begins by telling the reader to "Remember the sky" (Harjo 1) and to "know each of the star stories" (2). In addition, it is important to know the moon. The poet wants to use images the reader already knows and identifies with in order to stress the importance of connecting with the earth. The importance of remembering one's parents is also important because we are all connected. She tells the reader to remember the "earth whose skin…...
mlaWorks Cited
Bishop, Elizabeth. "The Fish." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 9th Edition.
edited by Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 9th Edition.
hile the poems are no doubt universal, we can see elements of Americana sprinkled throughout them. Cultural issues such as decision-making, the pressure of responsibility and duty, and the complexity of death emerge in many poems, allowing us to see society's influence on the poet. In "The Road Not Taken," we see how life is filled with choices. Because we are American, we are lucky enough to experience freedom but this does not always come without difficulty. ith this poem, the narrator explains how decision-making can be trying because we never actually know how things are going to turn out. Nevertheless, we must make choices and get on with our lives. In "Stopping by oods," the narrator encounters a similar type of conflict in that the pull of our fast-paced American lives makes him or her want to stay in the woods for just a little while to enjoy…...
mlaWorks Cited
Frost, Robert. "Design." The Harper American Literature, Single Volume. 3rd Ed. New York: Longman. 1998.
Stopping by Woods." The Harper American Literature, Single Volume. 3rd Ed. New York: Longman. 1998.
The Road Not Taken." The Harper American Literature, Single Volume. 3rd Ed. New York: Longman. 1998.
poetry, but it is only a chosen few who make it to the status of classic. Most poets who are considered classic artists write poems that call forth emotions of the reader through the use of their words. It has often been said that poets lead tragic lives, so that they can have something to write about, but this is not always the case. One of the most widely read and respected poets of all time, obert Frost, did not lead a poor and tortured life, yet he produced many of the poems that are considered classics in the history of the genre.
obert Frost provides evidence to the world that one does not have to live tragically to write well as long as he is able to empathize and feel the tragedies of others.
Background
obert Frost was born in 1874 in the city of San Francisco and lead a relatively…...
mla
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